Dream House or Nightmare?

I think i'm actually offended by this story. I can't fathom what the purpose is. Roger built a house as a home a long term investment. There is dip in the market but long term it will go up so where's the problem. In 1999 we plowed money into a unit trust for my daughter. A few months later the market crashed and our money was half the value. We continued investing in it because it was long term and only now are we seeing a profit. How is that any different.
If you want to write a story to show people the perils about homebuying in 2005, write about someone who has lost everything, not someone who has suffered a depreciation in paper wealth.

I think i'm actually offended by this story. I can't fathom what the purpose is. Roger built a house as a home a long term investment. There is dip in the market but long term it will go up so where's the problem. In 1999 we plowed money into a unit trust for my daughter. A few months later the market crashed and our money was half the value. We continued investing in it because it was long term and only now are we seeing a profit. How is that any different.
If you want to write a story to show people the perils about homebuying in 2005, write about someone who has lost everything, not someone who has suffered a depreciation in paper wealth.

I think i'm actually offended by this story. I can't fathom what the purpose is. Roger built a house as a home a long term investment. There is dip in the market but long term it will go up so where's the problem. In 1999 we plowed money into a unit trust for my daughter. A few months later the market crashed and our money was half the value. We continued investing in it because it was long term and only now are we seeing a profit. How is that any different.
If you want to write a story to show people the perils about homebuying in 2005, write about someone who has lost everything, not someone who has suffered a depreciation in paper wealth.

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Gee that's a real shame. Why just yesterday, I spoke with a homeless man complaining about the box he lived in had lost value, too. Sad isn???t it. Not to mention I have a three bedroom house and four children and no extra space to change my mind- let alone my pants without bumping into someone. I???m so sorry to hear he spent all that inheritance on that large house and is now disappointed with the results. Tell you what, Mr. Elliot, if you want, I???ll bite the bullet and swap houses with you. You can come live in South-East Pennsylvania and I???ll bear the anguish of warm sunny Florida. Of course, I don???t have Uncle Charlie???s inheritance to fall back on for the taxes either, but I???m sure I???ll make do. Let me know, Roger.

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I lived in that area for years, had a decent job and never could afford to buy a home as greedy schmucks as these in flated the value so working middle class familys could not afford to purchase. A pox on your house!!!!!

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Newsflash to Newsweek readers: Roger didn't get it when he was building this house, he doesn't get it now, and he will never get it.. For a brief point is history the economy tilted very heavily in favor of real estate assets vs. productive contribution. I.E.; it mattered less what you did productively that added to the economy, than what you owned. Although it is an unsustainable economic model, it got wings and flew just by raw emotional appeal. Now that normal economic models of how real estate is valued have re-emerged (I.E.; if you can't afford the non-teaser rate payment then you can't afford the house), there will be a necessary period of revaluation. Probably right now the best values are in new home construction where the builders have to price to market - the resale market hasn't completely come to grips with pricing to market. With the exception of silly money "can't lose" financing deals, its really not so bad. If a person is selling a primary residence and then buying another replacement where is the loss? They sell for less and then they buy for less - the only problem being if they originally entered the home owner market after ~ 2003. The vast majority of current homeowners entered the market before 2003, so it is merely a paper loss for them.

greed

I understand people's motivation to create a nest egg for their families. Everyone wants to feel secure in their future and investing in real estate is one way to do just that. After all, we all feel insecure when it comes to social security's future. I also understand some of the comments mentioned here when people have invested in their companies and find the people they "trusted" to keep those investments secure took advantage and ran off with the money they set aside just for that purpose. My husband and I invested $25,000 in some land in South Carolina. We purchased 10 acres of land. We both worked two full time jobs and after work we started building our own home. We did not take out any loans, we just used the income we made towards building our home and our future. We started from the ground up and completed our home in about two years. We built a 1400 square foot home and before completely finishing it, we lived in the downstairs and completed the upstairs as we could. We installed a nice kitchen (not high end) and installed nice cabinets in the bathrooms. We also Installed new carpet and vinyl flooring (again nothing high end). Our total investment was around $55,000 (which includes the purchase price of the land). We lived in the home for two years without any mortgages, loans or liens. We subsequently sold our home (due to a great job offer down in Florida) for $140,000. Total cost = sweat equity. Everyone can achieve this just by working hard, spending less, saving more and investing wisely. No one in America should allow the government to bail out anyone out of anything. We should all stop being "weak minded" and be "strong minded" with a strong will to do the best we can with the capabilities we have. We should only lean on "each other" and keep the government out of our back yards.

Greed. Plain and simple. They built this house as an investment; to make more money. Should we feel sorry for someone who invested $700,000 on Enron stock? Heck no! It is the same concept and it only means that they had money to spare. I would hate for the government to bail out people like these when there are a lot of people out there who wish they could own a home but were sensible and responsible enough to realize that it was too risky.

From Roger - Many (not all) of you wrote and were downright hostile. It is clear that your hostility comes from dark motivations. On the other hand some of you had many considerate and purposeful things to say. To the first bunch, you are nut cakes. You reek of jealously. I was blessed. What am I supposed to do? Give it all away as I did for the 1st part of my life? Would it make you feel better if I was poor again? I'm not apologizing for my good fortune. If you can't be happy for me - then be quiet.

To the second group, thanks for your wonderful insights. Regardless of the investment, I will live here and be happy. And so I will. Through this I learned how lucky and blessed that I am. And for that I make no apologies. Thank again to those who said: Be content.

Finally, what little I know of Dan the author, is that he is a really a very nice person. The fact that so many of you were provoked to write hostile things about him means that his skill as a writer is evident. Like it or not, it was a true insight into a current concern. He found a story and told it well.